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Neil Young Quotes

Neil Percival Young, , is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, producer, director and screenwriter. After embarking on a music career in the 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he formed Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and others. Young had released two solo albums by the time he joined Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969, in addition to three as a member of Buffalo Springfield. From his early solo albums and those with his backing band Crazy Horse, Young has recorded a steady stream of studio and live albums, sometimes warring with his recording company along the way.

Young's often distorted electric guitar work, deeply personal lyrics and signature tenor singing voice transcend his long career. Young also plays piano and harmonica on many albums, which frequently combine folk, rock, country and other musical styles. Known to rip up live set lists, Young often plays acoustic versions of songs in one show and electric versions in others. His gritty guitar work, especially with Crazy Horse, earned him the nickname "Godfather of Grunge" and led to his 1995 album Mirror Ball with Pearl Jam. More recently Young has been backed by Promise of the Real.

Young directed films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past , Rust Never Sleeps , Human Highway , Greendale , and CSNY/Déjà Vu . He also contributed to the soundtracks of the films Philadelphia and Dead Man .

Young has received several Grammy and Juno awards. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted him twice: as a solo artist in 1995 and in 1997 as a member of Buffalo Springfield. In 2000, Rolling Stone named Young the 34th greatest rock 'n roll artist.

He has lived in California since the 1960s but retains Canadian citizenship. He was awarded the Order of Manitoba on July 14, 2006, and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 30, 2009.

✵ 12. November 1945   •   Other names নীল ইয়াং, నెయిల్ యంగ్
Neil Young photo

Works
Old Man
Neil Young
Comes a Time
Neil Young
Neil Young: 65   quotes 12   likes

Famous Neil Young Quotes

“It doesn't mean that much to me to mean that much to you.”

Neil Young

“It's better to burn out than to fade away.”

Neil Young

Misattributed

“One of my favorite album covers is On the Beach. Of course that was the name of a movie and I stole it for my record, but that doesn't matter. The idea for that cover came like a bolt from the blue. Gary and I traveled around getting all the pieces to put it together. We went to a junkyard in Santa Ana to get the tail fin and fender from a 1959 Cadillac, complete with taillights, and watched them cut it off a Cadillac for us, then we went to a patio supply place to get the umbrella and table. We picke up the bad polyester yellow jacket and white pants at a sleazy men's shop, where we watched a shoplifter getting caught red-handed and busted. Gary and I were stoned on some dynamite weed and stood there dumbfounded watching the bust unfold. This girl was screaming and kicking! Finally we grabbed a local LA paper to use as a prop. It had this amazing headline: Sen. Buckley Calls For Nixon to Resign. Next we took the palm tree I had taken around the world on the Tonight's the Night tour. We then placed all of these pieces carefully in the sand at Santa Monica beach. Then we shot it. Bob Seidemann was the photographer, the same one who took the famous Blind Faith cover shot of the naked young girl holding the airplane. We used the crazy pattern from the umbrella insides for the inside of the sleeve that held the vinyl recording. That was the creative process at work. We lived for that, Gary and I, and we still do.”

Neil Young book Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream

Source: Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream

“When you dance,
Do your senses tingle?
Then take a chance?
In a trance,
While the lonely mingle
With circumstance?”

Neil Young

When You Dance I Can Really Love
Song lyrics, After the Gold Rush (1970)

“But only love can break your heart
Try to be sure right from the start
Yes only love can break your heart
What if your world should fall apart?”

Neil Young

Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Song lyrics, After the Gold Rush (1970)

Neil Young Quotes about thinking

“Shelter me from the powder
And the finger
Cover me with the thought
That pulled the trigger
Think of me
As one you'd never figured
Would fade away so young
With so much left undone.”

Neil Young

Powderfinger
Song lyrics, Rust Never Sleeps (1978)

“Oh, to live on Sugar Mountain
With the barkers and the colored balloons,
You can't be twenty on Sugar Mountain
Though you're thinking that
You're leaving there too soon,
You're leaving there too soon.”

Neil Young

Sugar Mountain (1969)
Song lyrics

“I'm not going back to Woodstock for a while,
Though I long to hear that lonesome hippie smile,
I'm a million miles away from that helicopter day,
No, I don't think I'll be goin' back that way.”

Neil Young

Roll Another Number (For The Road)
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

“Think I'll roll another number for the road,
I feel able to get under any load,
Though my feet aren't on the ground,
I've been standing on the sound
Of some open-hearted people going down.”

Neil Young

Roll Another Number (For The Road)
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

“Old man look at my life,
Twenty four
And there's so much more
Live alone in a paradise
That makes me think of two.”

Neil Young Old Man

Old Man
Song lyrics, Harvest (1972)

“I was lying in a burned out basement
With the full moon in my eyes.
I was hoping for replacement
When the sun burst through the sky.
There was a band playing in my head
And I felt like getting high.
I was thinking about what a
Friend had said
I was hoping it was a lie.”

Neil Young

After the Gold Rush
Song lyrics, After the Gold Rush (1970)

Neil Young Quotes about love

“You are like a hurricane
There's calm in your eye.
And I'm gettin' blown away
To somewhere safer
Where the feeling stays.
I want to love you but
I'm getting blown away.”

Neil Young

Like a Hurricane
Song lyrics, American Stars 'n Bars (1977)

“It's a cold bowl of chili when love lets you down.”

Neil Young

Saddle Up the Palomino
Song lyrics, American Stars 'n Bars (1977)

“Old man take a look at my life
I'm a lot like you.
I need someone to love me
The whole day through.
Ah, one look in my eyes
And you can tell that's true.”

Neil Young Old Man

Old Man
Source: Song lyrics, Harvest (1972)

“Need distraction
Need romance and candlelight
Need random violence
Need entertainment tonight
Need the evidence
Want the testimony of
Expert witnesses
On the brutal crimes of love.”

Neil Young

I'm the Ocean
Song lyrics, Mirror Ball (1995)

“It's gonna take a lotta love
To get us through the night
It's gonna take a lotta love
To make things work out right.”

Neil Young Comes a Time

Lotta Love
Source: Song lyrics, Comes a Time (1978)

“It's gonna take a lotta love
To change the way things are
It's gonna take a lotta love
Or we won't get too far.”

Neil Young Comes a Time

Lotta Love
Source: Song lyrics, Comes a Time (1978)

Neil Young: Trending quotes

“You can really learn a lot that way,
It will change you in the middle of the day,
Though your confidence may be shattered,
It doesn't matter.”

Neil Young

For the Turnstiles
Song lyrics, On the Beach (1974)

Way , Confidence , Learning , Change

“If you follow every dream, you might get lost.”

Neil Young
Dreams

“Keep on rockin' in the free world.”

Neil Young
World

Neil Young Quotes

“And the world on a string doesn't mean a thing.”

Neil Young

World On A String
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

World

“In my little box
At the top of the stair
With my Indian rug
And a pipe to share.”

Neil Young

Pocahontas
Song lyrics, Rust Never Sleeps (1978)

Box

“We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man.
We got a kinder, gentler,
Machine gun hand.
We got department stores
And toilet paper
Got styrofoam boxes
For the ozone layer.
Got a man of the people,
Says keep hope alive
Got fuel to burn,
Got roads to drive.”

Neil Young

Rockin' in the Free World
Song lyrics, Freedom (1989)

People , Hope , Light , Box

“A dreamer of pictures
I run in the night.
You see us together,
Chasing the moonlight,
My cinnamon girl.”

Neil Young

Cinnamon Girl
Song lyrics, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)

Girl , Night

“I've been looking for a woman to save my life
Not to beg or to borrow
A woman with the feeling of losing once or twice.”

Neil Young

I've Been Waiting for You
Song lyrics, Neil Young (1968)

Life , Feeling

“There is a town in north Ontario,
With dream comfort memory to spare,
And in my mind I still need a place to go,
All my changes were there.”

Neil Young

Helpless, from Déjà Vu (1970)
Song lyrics, With Crosby, Stills & Nash

Dreams , Memory , Change

“Look at Mother Nature on the run
In the nineteen seventies.”

Neil Young

After the Gold Rush
Song lyrics, After the Gold Rush (1970)

Nature

“Oh tell me where the answer lies,
Is it in the notebook behind your eyes?”

Neil Young

Speakin' Out
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

“Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.”

Neil Young

Ohio, from 4 Way Street (1971)
Song lyrics, With Crosby, Stills & Nash

Summer , Dead

“There you stood on the edge of your feather
Expecting to fly.
While I laughed, I wondered whether
I could wave goodbye
Knowin' that you'd gone.”

Neil Young

Expecting to Fly, from Buffalo Springfield Again
Song lyrics, With Buffalo Springfield

Flying

“Well, people let me tell you, it sent a chill up and down my spine,
When I picked up the telephone and heard that he'd died out on the mainline.”

Neil Young

Tonight's the Night
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

People

“I have seen you in the movies,
And in those magazines at night.
I saw you on the barstool,
When you held that glass so tight.”

Neil Young

Barstool Blues
Song lyrics, Zuma (1975)

Night

“Don't let it bring you down
It's only castles burning,
Just find someone who's turning
And you will come around.”

Neil Young

Don't Let It Bring You Down
Song lyrics, After the Gold Rush (1970)

“Please take my advice, please take my advice,
Open up the tired eyes,
Open up the tired eyes.”

Neil Young

Tired Eyes
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

“I've been to Hollywood
I've been to Redwood
I crossed the ocean
For a heart of gold.
I've been in my mind,
It's such a fine line
That keeps me searching
For a heart of gold.
And I'm getting old.”

Neil Young

Heart of Gold
Song lyrics, Harvest (1972)

Search , Heart

“He tried to do his best but he could not.”

Neil Young

Tired Eyes
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

“The economy was getting so bad, I had to lay myself off.”

Neil Young

Old Ways
Song lyrics, Old Ways (1985)

“Southern man better keep your head.
Don't forget what your good book said.
Southern change gonna come at last
Now your crosses are burning fast.
Southern man.”

Neil Young

Southern Man
Song lyrics, After the Gold Rush (1970)

Books , Change , Forgetting

“There's colors on the street
Red, white and blue
People shufflin' their feet
People sleepin' in their shoes
But there's a warnin' sign
On the road ahead
There's a lot of people sayin'
We'd be better off dead.
Don't feel like Satan,
But I am to them.
So I try to forget it,
Any way I can.”

Neil Young

Rockin' in the Free World
Song lyrics, Freedom (1989)

People , Color , Shoe , Way

“See the lonely boy, out on the weekend,
Tryin' to make it pay.
Can't relate to joy, he tries to speak and
Can't begin to say.”

Neil Young

Out On The Weekend
Song lyrics, Harvest (1972)

Boy , Joy

“The world is turning,
I hope it don't turn away.”

Neil Young

On the Beach
Song lyrics, On the Beach (1974)

World , Hope

“Oh, baby, that's hard to change,
I can't tell them how to feel,
Some get stoned, some get strange,
But sooner or later, it all gets real.
Walk on.
Walk on.”

Neil Young

Walk On
Song lyrics, On the Beach (1974)

Feeling , Change , Baby

“I've seen the needle and the damage done.
A little part of it in everyone.
But every junkie's like a settin' sun.”

Neil Young

The Needle and the Damage Done
Song lyrics, Harvest (1972)

Sun , Parting

“You take my hand,
I'll take your hand
Together we may get away
This much madness is too much sorrow
It's impossible to make it today.”

Neil Young

Down by the River
Song lyrics, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere (1969)

Madness

“The king is gone
But he's not forgotten.
This is the story
Of a Johnny Rotten
It's better to burn out
Than it is to rust.
The king is gone
But he's not forgotten.”

Neil Young

Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)
Song lyrics, Rust Never Sleeps (1978)

“Did you see them in the river?
They were there to wave to you.
Could you tell that the empty quiver,
Brown skinned Indian on the banks
That were crowded and narrow,
Held a broken arrow?”

Neil Young

Broken Arrow, from Buffalo Springfield Again (1967)
Song lyrics, With Buffalo Springfield

“If you guarantee the postage, I'll mail you back the key.”

Neil Young

The Last Trip to Tulsa
Song lyrics, With Crosby, Stills & Nash

“I never believed in much,
But I believed in you.”

Neil Young

From Hank to Hendrix
Song lyrics, Harvest Moon (1992)

“When I was a younger man,
Got lucky with a rock 'n' roll band,
Struck gold in Hollywood,
All the time I knew I would
Get back to the country,
Back where it all began.
Get back to the country,
Back in the barn again.”

Neil Young

Get Back To The Country
Song lyrics, Old Ways (1985)

Time , Country

“You're all just pissin' in the wind,
You don't know it but you are.”

Neil Young

Ambulance Blues
Song lyrics, On the Beach (1974)

“Live music is better! Bumper stickers should be issued!”

Neil Young

Union Man
Song lyrics, Hawks & Doves (1980)

Music

“I've been flyin' down the road,
And I've been starvin' to be alone,
Independent from the scene that I've known.”

Neil Young

Albuquerque
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

“I gave to you, now, you give to me
I'd like to know what you learned.
The sky is blue and so is the sea
What is the color, when black is burned?”

Neil Young

I Am a Child, from Last Time Around (1968)
Song lyrics, With Buffalo Springfield

Color , Learning , Sea

“Well, all those people, they think they've got it made,
But I wouldn't buy, sell, borrow or trade
Anything I have to be like one of them.
I'd rather start all over again.”

Neil Young

Motion Pictures
Song lyrics, On the Beach (1974)

People , Thinking

“I guess I'll call it sickness gone,
It's hard to say the meaning of this song.”

Neil Young

Ambulance Blues, referring to the drug related death of bandmate Danny Whitten
Song lyrics, On the Beach (1974)

“And we'll be watching you
No matter what you do
And you can do your part
By watchin' others too.”

Neil Young

Leave the Driving
Song lyrics, Greendale (2003)

Parting

“Well, I hear that Laurel Canyon is full of famous stars,
But I hate them worse than lepers and I'll kill them in their cars.”

Neil Young

Revolution Blues
Song lyrics, On the Beach (1974)

Hate , Cars , Star

“My my, hey hey
Rock and roll is here to stay.
It's better to burn out
Than to fade away.
My my, hey hey.”

Neil Young

Hey Hey, My My, written with Jeff Blackburn; quoted by Kurt Cobain in his suicide note.
Song lyrics, Rust Never Sleeps (1978)

“Will I see you give
More than I can take?
Will I only harvest some?
As the days fly past
Will we lose our grasp
Or fuse it in the sun?Did she wake you up
To tell you that
It was only a change of plan?
Dream up, dream up,
Let me fill your cup
With the promise of a man.”

Neil Young

Harvest
Song lyrics, Harvest (1972)

Dreams , Change , Sun , Past

“Where the eagle glides ascending
There's an ancient river bending
Through the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits.”

Neil Young

Thrasher
Song lyrics, Rust Never Sleeps (1978)

Change

“A sparkle was in his eye, but his life was in his hand.”

Neil Young

Tonight's the Night
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

Life

“I'm singin' this borrowed tune I took from the Rolling Stones,
Alone in this empty room, too wasted to write my own.”

Neil Young

Borrowed Tune
Song lyrics, Tonight's the Night (1975)

“If I was a junkman selling you cars,
Washing your windows and shining your stars,
Thinking your mind was my own in a dream
What would you wonder and how would it seem?
Living in castles a bit at a time
The King started laughing and talking in rhyme.
Singing words, words between the lines of age.
Words, words between the lines of age.”

Neil Young

Words (between the lines of age)
Song lyrics, Harvest (1972)

Singing , Time , Star , Dreams

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